Page 277 - Foundations of Marketing

244 Part 3 | Customer Behavior and E-Marketing

Distribution
The growth in popularity of
e-readers has led to a greater
direct distribution of magazines,
newspapers, and books.

© iStockPhoto.com

the speed of communications via the Internet reduces inefficiencies, costs, and redundan-
cies while increasing speed throughout the marketing channel. Shipping times and costs have
become an important consideration in attracting consumers, prompting many companies to
offer consumers low shipping costs or next-day delivery. Walmart, for example, has a “site-
to-store” system, whereby consumers get free shipping if they pick up their purchases at a
Walmart store of their choice. The company has even tested the concept of delivering gro-
ceries to individual homes. Walmart hopes to become an online success and eventually take
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market share away from competitors like Amazon.
Distribution involves a push–pull dynamic: the fi rm that provides a product will push
to get that product in front of the consumer, while at the same time connectivity aids those
channel members that desire to fi nd each other—the pull side of the dynamic. For example,
an iPhone application can help consumers fi nd the closest Starbucks, McDonald’s, or KFC.
On the other hand, a blog or Twitter feed can help a marketer communicate the availability
of products and how and when they can be purchased. This process can help push products
through the marketing channel to consumers or enable customers to pull products through the
marketing channel.

Promotion Considerations
The majority of this chapter has discussed ways that marketers use digital media and social
networking sites to promote products, from creating profiles on social networking sites to
connecting with consumers (New Belgium) to using Twitter to build customer relationships
(Southwest Airlines) to taking advantage of virtual worlds like Second Life to increase con-
sumer interest (Domino’s). Social networking sites also allow marketers to approach promo-
tion in entirely new, creative ways. For instance, Facebook’s launch of “Sponsored Stories”
lets advertisers pay to have Facebook highlight users’ status updates or “likes” so their friends
can see them. Burberry and Ben & Jerry’s have used the “Sponsored Stories” feature to capi-
talize on this opportunity for word-of-mouth marketing. Facebook’s “Sponsored Stories”
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has been moved into its “News Feed,” since that is the place where most users look first.
Marketers who choose to capitalize on these opportunities have the chance to boost their
firms’ brand exposure.

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